Online examinations, online talent assessments, and certifications are becoming the norm. Most of the universities, schools and other educational institutions are conducting their exams online. Companies are increasingly using talent assessments to hire employees, and they are mostly conducted online.
The benefits of conducting online exams are too lucrative to pass. Any exam requires standardization, marking and invigilation. All these activities require expensive manpower, planning, and scheduling. But when conducting exams online, these activities can be automated to save time, cost and make the entire process more convenient.
Most online exams provide a detailed candidate diagnostic report that contains details on how the student/candidate performed. And with online invigilation services such as proctoring, the whole process of conducting exams can be automated to make the process more standardized and efficient. Interestingly, it is the advances in online proctoring that have negated the use of unfavourable means such as passing chits, whispering, eyeballing for help, and leveraging technological advancements for cheating online. It is next-to-impossible for candidates to cheat in an online exam. Companies have leaped at the opportunity to provide online proctoring services, due to which the market for online/remote proctoring is expected to reach USD 10 Billion by 2026 (Source: Learning Light).
But, let’s retrace our steps and address some basic concerns people have with regards to a web proctored exam. Like,
Online proctoring refers to a digital form of assessment which allows you to sit exams from any location. During online proctoring, the software is used to allow students and course participants sit exams at any place of their choice including their home. It has to be a complacent environment free from fraud. A state-of-the-art monitoring software is used to invigilate the test taker through a combination of audio and video to avoid any unsavory instances.
A prerequisite of any proctored exam is for the test taker to switch on thero video and audio and verify their identity. This process varies across proctoring service providers. Some proctoring solutions have a 3-point identity verification, while some have sophisticated biometrics in place. In either case, the test taker cannot start the exam unless their verification has been validated. Once that is approved, an AI or a human proctor monitors the exam from start to finish. They are quick to pick up any discrepancy in the proctored exam process.
But, with so many proctoring service providers, it’s important to know which vendor is reliable and can enable you to maintain high test integrity consistently.
In this blog, we cover the top 5 industry proctoring service providers- the range of services they provide, their proctoring softwares and top features, the clientele they cater to, and more!
PSI Services is a US-based, professional testing services provider that entered the remote/online proctoring market with its acquisition of Software Secure (acquired in 2017) and Innovative Exams (acquired in 2015). It also launched its own online proctoring SAAS solution- PSI Bridge in 2018. PSI also provides complete assessment solutions- right from hosting the test online to monitoring test takers and carrying out competency-based testing. It delivers 15 million assessments annually.
Founded in 2010, Mercer | Mettl, based out of Gurgaon, India, is a leading technology company. It is the only Indian company to feature in Gartner’s Global Market Guide for Top Proctoring Vendors in the World. The company provides a sophisticated slew of online assessment softwares, competency-based customized skill assessment tools, result analytics and proctoring services to a cross-border clientele. It is replete with location-agnostic, robust anti-cheating features, AI-proctored supervision, human proctoring flexibility, and stand-alone services that solve continuity-related concerns. With more than 20 million proctored assessments annually, the company has a 4000+ clientele that includes the likes of IIM Bangalore, Ghent University, Laureate International Universities, and Optimizely to name a few. .
ProctorU is an Alabama, US-based fully automated proctoring service provider, that provides auto proctoring and live proctoring services. Founded in 2008, the company has established its name in the industry by providing AI- driven proctoring services. Catering to both academic institutions and professional organizations, they cater to ~1000 customers-Cameron University and the University of Florida to name a few.
Examity is a Massachusetts, US-based, proctoring solution provider. It entered the proctoring market in 2013 and has over 500 clients. It provides auto, live and ID authentication solutions to universities, corporates and enterprise testing organizations. Its partners include Amazon, Tableau and Coursera.
Verificient is a New York based continuous identity verification and digital remote monitoring service provider. Its proctoring solution is called ‘Proctortrack.’ Founded in 2012, the company provides AI, machine learning, biometrics and computer vision powered Trusted Identity as a Service (TIaaS). Verificient’s ‘RemoteDesk’ solution goes beyond exam proctoring to provide automated monitoring of people who work from home. It also provides assessments for hiring talent (FreshHire). It has served 18 million + users, verified more than 1.5 million identities and detected ~6 million violations. It also provides IP protection for instructors to prevent their exams from getting leaked online. Its clientele includes OPENedX, Blackboard, and Moodle.
Now that we have discussed in some detail, the most prominent players in the online proctoring industry, it’s important to know the right questions to ask in order to make an informed decision regarding which vendor to choose. We have provided a checklist of the most in-demand proctoring features that corporates and educational institutes seek from a vendor, followed by names of vendors who provide those features:
The choice of proctoring features depends upon the exam integrity level, budget and number of candidates to be proctored. With online proctoring, the process of conducting examinations has become fully automated right from creating the tests, scheduling, invigilation, checking answers to sharing candidate results online. Online exams are 50% cheaper than pen and paper exams, and it requires much less time and effort to successfully conduct them in a fair, easy and standardized manner. With AI-driven proctoring, the algorithms will soon become trained enough to prevent cheating 100%, a guarantee that a physical invigilator cannot always promise. Studies show that candidates giving exams online are more prone to cheating than in a physical setup. There is a huge market for cheating devices that cater to the cheating needs of students. Hence it’s important to take all the necessary precautions while conducting online exams to ensure high integrity. Having multiple layers of check and a strong AI based proctoring solution provider that can provide end to end solution for conducting online exams is the best bet to achieve high exam integrity in a seamless and affordable manner.
Monitor any suspicious activity with our wide range of online proctoring services that meet your scale and budget.
Our RP services cater to a broad spectrum of examinations ranging from pre-employment assessments to entrances and mid-semester examinations.
With our state of the art AI, you can remove logical hassle and get 95% accuracy in preventing cheating
ProctorPLUS is Mercer | Mettl’s cutting-edge tool that is driven by artificial intelligence to provide a holistic solution to ensure the integrity of your assessments in a cost-effective and scalable manner. It is pre-integrated with Mettl’s examination platform and can also be easily integrated into any human resource management system (HRMS). The unique feature of Mettl’s ProctoringPLUS is that it is customizable to your requirements to ensure flexibility in terms of cost, features, and stakes.
At Mercer I Mettl, our mission is to enable organizations to build winning teams by making credible people decisions across two key areas: Acquisition and Development. Since our inception in 2009, we have partnered with 2900+ corporates, 31 sector skill councils/government departments, and 15+ educational institutions across 90+ countries.
Mettl was acquired by Mercer in 2018, Mercer, a global leader in redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being, and a business of Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC).
For more information, visit www.mettl.com. Follow Mercer | Mettl on LinkedIn and Twitter @MercerMettl.
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